Assessment of composition and origin of airborne bacteria in the free troposphere over Japan

• Aerosol samples were collected at high altitudes using an aircraft and a balloon.
• During four sampling periods, the air masses came from the Gobi Desert and North Asia.
• Airborne bacterial species were investigated using a 16S rDNA clone library technique.
• Bacterial species at high altitudes varied by the direction of free tropospheric winds.

Long-range transport of airborne microorganisms through the free troposphere significantly impacts biological ecosystems, human life, and atmospheric processes in downwind areas. However, microbial communities in the free troposphere have rarely been investigated because the direct collection of microbial cells at high altitudes requires sophisticated sampling techniques. In this study, tropospheric air sampling was performed using a balloon and an aircraft at 800 m and 3000 m, respectively, over the Noto Peninsula in Japan (37.5°N, 137.4°E) where free tropospheric winds carry aerosols from continental areas. The air samples were collected during four different sampling periods when air masses came from desert regions of Asian continent (west samples) and from Siberia of Russia North Asia (north samples). The west samples contained higher levels of aerosols, and bacteria from the west samples grew in culture media containing up to 15% NaCl. In contrast, bacteria from the north samples could not be cultured in the same media. All isolates obtained from the NaCl-amended cultures were similar to Bacillus subtilis and classified as Firmicutes. A 16S rDNA clone library prepared from the west samples was mainly composed of one phylotype of Firmicutes that corresponded to the cultured B. subtilis sequence. A clone library prepared from the north samples consisted primarily of two phyla, i.e., Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria, which are known to dominantly inhabit low-temperature environments of North Asia. Our results suggest that airborne bacterial communities at high altitudes include several species that vary by the direction and interaction of free tropospheric winds.